Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I haven't shot anything I'm happy with in quite some time now. The president (yes, of the United States) even stopped by Freehold on Friday, but I wasn't assigned to cover it... even though images shot by reporters with point-n-shoots were the only photos used in our web updates throughout the day. Nice, right? Anyway, I digress. Yesterday I shot a very sad event, a funeral for a local soldier killed in Afghanistan. I don't think there's really much more I can say. Here's a slideshow of a few of my images, they'll tell the story much better than I could with words.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
It Has Arrived!
Just got my prize for placing third in the SportsShooter.com clip contest. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they hadn't shipped me the 30D they'd promised, but a brand-spankin'-new 40D! Awesome. I just want to publically say thanks to SportsShooter.com for running such an awesome contest and to Canon for sponsoring said contest. Thank you guys, you rock! Keep up the good, no, great work!
Monday, March 17, 2008
R.I.P. Wall Township Speedway
Wall Township Speedway, a local racetrack, has announced (here) that it will not reopen this spring, thus ending its long run of great racing and entertainment near the Jersey Shore. Although I will freely admit that I'm not particularly fond of auto racing, I will say that I am sad to see the place go. Everyone there always looked like they were having a great time, and during the day and into the evening the light there was just great to shoot in. The article on my paper's website had over 100 user comments, a few from people glad to see the track shut down, but the majority of which recounted memories from a wide variety of people, of all ages, from all over the country. It got me thinking about my memories at the track, and I put together 10 of my favs and posted them on my SportsShooter page. Lo and behold, the next day they'd spotlighted my gallery! Here's the SportsShooter front page, followed by a slideshow of the 10 images. Thanks for looking!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Press Conference
It's tough to make photos at a press conference. Especially one as lightly-attended as the one I had to shoot this afternoon. Nine or so politicians gathered at the front of the room to complain about funding being taken away. I'm sure it was very important and all, but I guess my paper was the only one that thought so because the room was basically empty. I was there, the reporter I was working with was there, the Senator's PR woman was shooting with a point-and-shoot camera, and there were two other gentlemen with cameras, too, though I'm not sure who they were shooting for. Not exactly the turnout the politicos were expecting, I'm sure. So with nothing (and no one) in the room to photograph other than the talking heads up front, I actually wandered out of the room to make a frame I liked.
The other frame I made was one of these two aforementioned photographers. He was wearing a very loud shirt, considering the business attire of everyone else in the room.
But that was it. Other than the obligatory "head shots" I turned in (of which I'll spare you), there was nothing going on. No one getting particularly passionate, no faces in the audience, nothing. Gotta love the loud shirts that sometimes come to the rescue... If not for the story (it'll never run in the paper) then at least for my sanity as a photographer.
The other frame I made was one of these two aforementioned photographers. He was wearing a very loud shirt, considering the business attire of everyone else in the room.
But that was it. Other than the obligatory "head shots" I turned in (of which I'll spare you), there was nothing going on. No one getting particularly passionate, no faces in the audience, nothing. Gotta love the loud shirts that sometimes come to the rescue... If not for the story (it'll never run in the paper) then at least for my sanity as a photographer.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
High School Basketball State Championship Game
State championship games are always fun... even if the lens I use most often decided to crap out on me at halftime. Here are some more moody, grainy, black-and-white selections from this afternoon's state championship game.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Dodgeball!
Lately I've been into the whole high-ISO-grainy-black-and-white style. I think it probably reflects my mood right about now... Anyway, shot some dodgeball during "Fun Night" at a physical fitness and education center. The place is really cool. They help kids 8-18yo with their homework and other studies and keep them healthy, fit and in shape for school sports... or just healthy and fit for the sake of being healthy and fit. Nifty idea.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
The Night From Hell
Ever have one of those days? You know, the type of day that made you wish you'd called out sick or lived on another planet or been torn apart by a pack of wolves? Welcome to my night. It started on I-287 on my way to the basketball games.
I left at 4, the trip should've taken about an hour and in stead it took almost two. Yes, it was rush hour but there must've been an accident because no one was moving at all. Wonderful. Took me forty five minutes to go the last 10 miles.
So I finally get to the school about 15 minutes to game time. I set up my lights and get ready for the game when I discover ... I left my camera batteries in the battery charger. At home. Wonderful. Luckily, I keep a backup battery in my trunk. (It had been there for over two weeks, but surprisingly still had enough juice to shoot both games. I got lucky.)
Between games I worked on the pics from the first game. When I went to send them I discovered that there was no reception inside the gym. Wonderful. It took the entire first half of the second game to send just three photos from the first. I decided to just send the rest after the second game.
After the second game, I quickly worked on the images, but since everyone had left the building and reception inside was so poor, I decided to send them from my car. Only by the time I got to the car, my computer had crashed. And when I rebooted it, the pics from the second game were gone. Wonderful. I still had them on the compact flashcard, but now in stead of working on them at a desk in the school, I had to work on them in the front seat of my car.
I did what I needed to do, and by 10:30, all the photos were sent. A little late, but just under my deadline for an 8:00 game. But the worst part of the night was, yet again, I didn't get anything I liked. I've now shot an entire basketball season and I'm still waiting for my first good shot. Here are the best pics from my crappy shoot...
I guess I'd still rather have the night I had than the night he had...
Until next time, thanks for stopping by...
I left at 4, the trip should've taken about an hour and in stead it took almost two. Yes, it was rush hour but there must've been an accident because no one was moving at all. Wonderful. Took me forty five minutes to go the last 10 miles.
So I finally get to the school about 15 minutes to game time. I set up my lights and get ready for the game when I discover ... I left my camera batteries in the battery charger. At home. Wonderful. Luckily, I keep a backup battery in my trunk. (It had been there for over two weeks, but surprisingly still had enough juice to shoot both games. I got lucky.)
Between games I worked on the pics from the first game. When I went to send them I discovered that there was no reception inside the gym. Wonderful. It took the entire first half of the second game to send just three photos from the first. I decided to just send the rest after the second game.
After the second game, I quickly worked on the images, but since everyone had left the building and reception inside was so poor, I decided to send them from my car. Only by the time I got to the car, my computer had crashed. And when I rebooted it, the pics from the second game were gone. Wonderful. I still had them on the compact flashcard, but now in stead of working on them at a desk in the school, I had to work on them in the front seat of my car.
I did what I needed to do, and by 10:30, all the photos were sent. A little late, but just under my deadline for an 8:00 game. But the worst part of the night was, yet again, I didn't get anything I liked. I've now shot an entire basketball season and I'm still waiting for my first good shot. Here are the best pics from my crappy shoot...
I guess I'd still rather have the night I had than the night he had...
Until next time, thanks for stopping by...
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Cleaning Up
One of my jobs today was to photograph a group of students from two different local colleges as they helped clean up a local lake. Among the junk pulled from the muddy water was a bicycle, completely covered in lake muck, but still nearly 100% intact.
This last photo had nothing to do with the bike, I just thought it looked nice and was a neat little story within the story. The two people in the pic are sister/brother, and the boy is still in middle school, but gave up part of his Saturday to come help out his sister and her cause. That just struck me as really classy.
This last photo had nothing to do with the bike, I just thought it looked nice and was a neat little story within the story. The two people in the pic are sister/brother, and the boy is still in middle school, but gave up part of his Saturday to come help out his sister and her cause. That just struck me as really classy.
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